Yellen speaks and says nothing. Brits poll for Brexit. Saudis invest for non-oil future. SCOTUS rejects cases involving Glaxo, Google, and Ecuador. Zuckerberg’s password is dadada. Financial Review  by Sinclair Noe for 06-06-2016 DOW + 113 = 17,920 SPX + 10 = 2109 NAS + 26 = 4968 10 Y + .02 =  1.72% OIL – .01=  49.68 GOLD + 1.20 = 1245.70 The S&P 500 closed at a 7 month high and is now just 21 points from the record high back in May of last year.   Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen delivered a speech today in Philadelphia. The event was the last insight into Fed thinking before a media blackout takes effect ahead of the June 14-15 monetary policy meeting. One week ago, the market betting was on a June or July interest rate hike from the Fed; then Friday, we saw the very, very weak non-farm payrolls report from the Labor Department. The economy added just 38,000 jobs in May, the smallest gain since September 2010. So, what did Yellen say about the Fed’s stance on rate hikes now?   Well, it depends on what you wanted to hear. Yellen said the jobs report was disappointing but she warned against attaching too much significance to it on its own. Yellen said. “Other timely indicators from the labor market have been more positive.” Amid the “countervailing forces,” she said, “I see good reasons to expect that the positive forces supporting employment growth and higher inflation will continue ...

Friday Jobs Report comes in at 38,000 jobs for May and the unemployment rate drops to 4.7%. Everything you need to know about the report. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 06-03-2016 DOW – 31 = 17,807 SPX – 6 = 2099 NAS – 28 = 4952 10 Y – .11 = 1.70% OIL – .39 = 48.76 GOLD + 33.10 = 1244.50   The US economy added 38,000 jobs in May, which is not a typo, it is the fewest jobs added in more than 5 years – just 38,000.  The unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 percent in May, (again, not a typo) the lowest since November 2007. The unemployment rate went down for the wrong reason; not because people were finding jobs but because 458,000 people dropped out of the labor force. Most forecasts were calling for 150,000 to 180,000 new jobs, so this was a big miss.   The government revised down the number of new jobs created in April to 123,000 from 160,000. March’s gain was lowered to 186,000 from 208,000, or a downward revision of 59,000. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 116,000 per month. The drop-off in 2016 is the sharpest of the seven-year-old recovery. Most industries eliminated jobs last month, the first time that’s happened in several years, but there may be some noise in the statistics; 35,000 striking Verizon workers were counted as unemployed but the jobs report was still the weakest in at ...

S&P 2100. ECB 0%. OPEC no change. American death rate up. CFPB cracks down on payday usury. Wide-ranging billionaires. The rise of the drones. And patents galore. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 06-02-2016 DOW + 48 = 17,838 SPX + 5 = 2105 NAS + 19 = 4971 10 Y – .04 = 1.81% OIL – .05 = 48.96 GOLD – 2.30 = 1211.40   Again today the major market averages started the morning in negative territory – the Dow was down about 70 points in the first hour of trading – and then clawed back to slightly positive gains at the close. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the S&P 500 broke through the widely-watched 2100 mark, but finished just slightly below. Today, the index finally squeezed through.   The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting in Vienna today. OPEC announced there will be no change in oil production policy, no ceiling set on output. OPEC ministers appeared to be at odds over what the bloc’s next move should be. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said he was pleased with how the oil market was recovering and rebalancing. The Saudi oil minister said oil prices at $50 won’t allow shale oil and other higher-cost producers to lift supply to levels that hinder market recovery. Prices need to be at level above $50 a barrel for more crude supplies to come back to the market following a slump over the past two years. Maybe, maybe not.   The European Central Bank is also ...

Consumers spending more but not getting more; confidence wavers. 1Q earnings reporting season closes with another decline. Fed considers a hike. Brits consider a Brexit. A strike finally works. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 05-31-2016   DOW – 86 = 17,787 SPX – 2 = 2096 NAS + 14 = 4948 10 Y – .02 = 1.83% OIL – .37 = 48.96 GOLD + 10.50 = 1216.40 As we wrap up the month of May, here’s the tally: the Dow gained 14 points for the month, the S&P 500 gained 29 points, and the Nasdaq was the winner with a gain of 173. The 10 year Treasury was flat. Oil added $3 a barrel. Gold lost $78 an ounce.   Consumer spending increased 1% in April to mark the biggest gain in almost seven years, as Americans splurged on new cars and trucks. Higher gas prices also contributed.  Inflation-adjusted spending rose a smaller but still healthy 0.6% in April. The April spending figure was the biggest one-month climb since a 1.3 percent increase in August 2009. The Commerce Department also reported incomes were up 0.4 percent, matching the March gain. Wages and salaries, the most important component of incomes, gained 0.5 percent. An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve showed prices are up 1.1 percent over the past year. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 1.6 percent. Both measures are still below the Fed’s target of 2 percent annual price increases, but ...

Sinclair Noe interview Helen Chaitman, author of “JPMadoff: The Unholy Alliance between America’s Biggest Bank and America’s Biggest Crook”

Sinclair Noe interviews SC Moatti, author of “Mobilized: An Insider’s Guide to the Business and Future of Connected Technology”

1Q GDP revised up to 0.8%; economy slogs along. Yellen hawkish, with an oops. Why G7? Why Sears? Philips turns out the lights. ACLU-MSFT tag team for 4th Amendment. Obama in Hiroshima. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 05-27-2016 DOW + 44 = 17,873 SPX + 8 = 2099 NAS + 31 = 4933 10 Y + .03 = 1.85% OIL – .06 = 49.40 GOLD – 9.50 = 1211.00   Gross domestic product rose at 0.8% rate from January to March, up from an initial 0.5% reading. The upward revision reflected a smaller drag from trade than previously estimated. The government also reported a rebound in after-tax corporate profits, which increased at a 0.6 percent rate in the first quarter after plunging at an 8.4 percent pace in the fourth quarter. Income growth for the first quarter also was revised higher. The economy has been hurt by a strong dollar and sluggish global demand. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is currently estimating second-quarter GDP rising at a 2.9 percent rate.   Consumer spending, the main engine of the economy, rose 1.9% in the first quarter. That was unchanged from the government’s original estimate. Americans spent more on housing, utility bills and health care and pared back purchases of new cars. Outlays on new home construction surged at 17.1% clip in the first quarter, up from a prior 14.8% estimate. That’s the biggest gain in nearly four years. Business investment declined, in some cases sharply. Outlays on structure such as oil ...

Pending home sales increase, durable goods orders increase, jobless claims decrease. Google beats Oracle and retains dominion over the Android kingdom. Microsoft and Facebook lay cable. The French protest. American Airlines doth protest too much. Takata? Why? Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 05-26-2016   DOW – 23 = 17,828 SPX – 0.44 = 2090 NAS + 6 = 4901 10 Y – .05 = 1.82% OIL – .23 = 49.33 GOLD – 4.50 = 1220.50   The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, based on contracts signed last month, increased 5.1 percent to 116.3, a level not seen since February 2006. Contracts rose in three of the nation’s four regions, with the West reporting an 11.4 percent jump.   Orders for durable or long-lasting goods made in the U.S. jumped 3.4% in April but a key measure of business investment fell again. The increase in new orders last month was powered by a spike in demand for commercial planes. Those orders accounted for 85% of the increase in April bookings. Typically large planes are built or delivered five years after they are ordered. Orders for new autos and parts also rose nearly 3%. Stripping out transportation, durable-goods orders increased a modest 0.4% in April after a 0.1% advance in March. In April, orders for a category known as core capital goods that’s viewed as a proxy for business investment declined 0.8%. They’ve fallen in five of the past six months. While much of the slowdown ...

A two day rally. Citi gets off easy. HP gets twisted. Families struggle. Robots build phones and serve pizza. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 05-25-2016. DOW + 145 = 17,851 SPX + 14 = 2090 NAS + 33 = 4894 10 Y + .01 = 1.87 OIL + .94 =  49.56 GOLD – 2.90 = 1225.00   A 2 day rally on Wall Street. The S&P 500 moved back above its 50 day moving average. Still the S&P is trading in a fairly tight range; it isn’t breaking down but it isn’t breaking out, either. According to the American Association of Individual Investors Sentiment Survey released last week, neutral sentiment among investors has been above 40 percent for 10 straight weeks; neutrality has been above its historical average of 31 percent for 68 weeks out of the past 72. Over the past 2 years, the S&P has traded between 2135 and 1810; until it takes out the high or low, there is no reason to be anything but neutral.   Oil is at a 7-month high. West Texas Intermediate crude oil touched a high of $49.75 a barrel, the highest since the middle of October, and it comes after the Tuesday-evening release of American Petroleum Institute data that showed a drawdown of supply by 5 million barrels, double market expectations, and today the US energy department reported that crude stocks fell by 4.2 million barrels in the last week.   Exxon Mobil and Chevron held their annual shareholder meetings today. There ...

Wall Street rallies – go figure. Est-ce que Google a un problème d’impôt? Exxon has a problem with its own shareholders. Deere has a problem renting out tractors. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 05-24-2016.   DOW + 213 = 17,706 SPX + 28 = 2076 NAS + 95 = 4861 10 Y + .02 = 1.86% OIL + 1.02 = 49.10 GOLD – 21.30 = 1227.90   Yesterday, Wall Street couldn’t figure out which way to go; today stocks rallied for their best day since March 11. The S&P 500 rallied back above its 50 day moving average; we’ll have to see if it can hold on. What was behind the rally? Who knows? Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital, said the rally feels like a short squeeze and characterized U.S. stocks as “dead money.” Gundlach says the market is not healthy and earnings have come in weak. On the Federal Reserve, Gundlach says the odds of a rate hike in June are 50-50, and it is Janet Yellen’s opinion that matters the most.   Expectations are rising for a rate hike next month after Philly Fed President Patrick Harker reinforced the central bank’s message that it’s getting ready to act now that the U.S. economy has recovered from a weak winter. Harker says he “can easily see the possibility of two or three rate hikes over the remainder of the year,” he told an audience in Philadelphia. “If the data comes in… I think a June rate increase is ...